I Bleed With My Country

My country bleeds.

And I bleed with it.

Incivility.

Division.

Strife.

My country’s blood is my blood.

Its dreams are my dreams.

Its future is my future.

What blood, dreams and future have us left?

What awaits us both?

But I remind myself

My country has bled

Before I could bleed.

Through

Revolution

And

War

Civil

World

and

Cold.

Through

Oppression

and Sin

Towards

Those

Who were here first

Those

Who were here forced

Those

Who came here foreign.

My country has clotted

Before I could clot.

Through

Dialogue

Movements

Protests

Amendments

Elections

Reparations.

Healing

is incomplete.

Pain

is deep.

Scabs

are numerous.

Yet

Some have

fallen off.

Some more

might fall, too.

Our Country has

bled, clotted and scabbed over.

I will bleed, clot and help

The new scabs fall away.

For both of us.

For all of us.

For you.